Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.
AN: Rated K for everyone to enjoy! This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.
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Chance by luvsanime02
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Prompt: 2 and 4 on a speed date (Alphonse Elric and Riza Hawkeye).
"Are you even legally old enough to be here?" Riza asked in some surprise.
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Riza Hawkeye's (soon to be ex) best friend had high-jacked her Friday night and set her up as a participant in a speed dating event. She wished they served alcohol. To her right, Rebecca was laughing at the man who'd been sitting in front of her thirty seconds ago. What her friend had found to laugh about, Riza didn't know, because when he'd sat in front of her the only thing he'd managed to ramble on about was his new speedboat.
"Lighten up," Rebecca hissed to her while the men were changing seats. "Stop giving them all the scary poker face."
Inwardly, Riza sighed, but did not change her facial expression from 'unimpressed.' It was her only form of protest for being dragged to this event in the first place. The whole idea of meeting someone worthwhile in thirty seconds was dubious at best.
Just as she was wondering how much of a fuss it'd be for her to get up and walk out now, what looked like a very young man sat down in front of her.
"Are you even legally old enough to be here?" Riza asked in some surprise, not giving him a chance to speak first.
The boy (for surely, he had to be a boy still) smiled sheepishly at her. It was a nice enough smile, genuine, and it lit up his eyes. "Just barely," he admitted. "My older brother signed me up for this. Apparently, I'm 'too young to be spending my weekends curled up on the couch with the cats.'"
Riza smiled at that. She could understand how uniquely annoying older brothers often were.
The timer dinged, and they both started in shock.
"Oh!" the boy exclaimed softly. "Um, I'm sorry for not introducing myself properly, but I did have a nice time chatting with you. Excuse me."
He was oddly polite for someone of his age, and when he stood up she saw that he was wearing corduroys and a sensible button-down under a sweater vest. Watching him out of the corner of her eye while she ignored the next man to sit down in front of her, she instead paid attention to his introduction to Rebecca. His name was Alphonse and he studied advanced aerodynamics, which made her raise an eyebrow in reluctant admiration.
Riza sat through three more introductions before she abruptly realized that she was ignoring the 'dates' in front of her for an entirely different reason now. She glanced down at the sheet in front of her that contained the men's names and contact information, and found her gaze resting on 'Alphonse Elric.'
This was ridiculous. By his own admission, Alphonse was barely eighteen, and she was a grown woman of thirty-one, firmly settled into her career and with no time or energy after work to expend on dating someone so young. He probably went out clubbing every other night, and stayed up all hours getting drunk, like every other young man his age. He-
Apparently, Alphonse spent so much time home alone on the couch with his cats that his older brother took a chance and set him up for a speed dating event in the hopes of him meeting someone.
Maybe it was time for Riza to take a chance too. She found herself smiling, just a little, as she entered Alphonse's number into her cell.
She'd call him later.